I'm the one who brought the Rock Star badge ribbons to the party. My intention was to give a little present the folks who read my blog, are Facebook friends or follow me on Twitter. It was just a little sumthin' sumthin' and my way of saying thanks for being part of my world.

The ribbons were way more popular than I expected them to be. I loosely knew whom to expect at the Jamboree and I had a mental list of who I wanted to meet and make sure they had ribbons. The only problem was that word of the ribbons spread faster than I found everyone, and it created a teeny buzz. People wanted to know where to get the ribbons. I even had a big-name blogger sheepishly approach me and ask for a ribbon and I thought, "Are you kidding me? You're famous. You should have five ribbons!"Occasionally, genealogy events can be stuffy affairs: all business and no fun. I want to change that in my own way. I am so relieved everyone at the Jamboree loved the ribbons and showed their Rock Star personalities.

The Rock Star ribbons also illustrated an important lesson on the value of social networking in genealogy. I gave those ribbons to people who were in my social networks. Conference attendees said that they saw them everywhere. What they saw was MY social network right before their eyes. There are those who say Facebook is a waste of time, blogs are semi-useless and Twitter has no informational value, but the Rock Stars show that just isn't true.

I thought it was a nice touch and that you chose the "rock stars" well. As Randy Seaver visited the Genlighten booth, my mother (who's not a genealogist and hadn't heard of Randy) noticed his Rock Star ribbon. I reassured her that he had not chosen the designation himself and that he did indeed deserve it!